Meizu M3 Max review: A different note

Vlad Bobleanta,
15 December 2016.

Introduction

The Meizu M3 Max is one of the latest additions to Meizu's m3 midrange series. It's two months old already, but we didn't want to miss the opportunity to present this phablet to our readers, especially with the shopping season hitting some highs lately.

Instead of our usual long-form review routine, we'll see that this review is different. Our goal was to give you our impressions in a shorter, condensed manner but without sacrificing the performance assessment and the results from the full tests we normally perform. We hope you enjoy it.

The m3 note fans will surely recognize in the M3 Max everything that made the note popular. Besides the bigger screen, there are no apparent novelties - even the microUSB port is still in tact.

Hardware

So, the M3 Max is the biggest smartphone Meizu has ever done with a beefy 6" display at 1080p resolution. Being a member of the m3 series meant it has inherited pretty much everything from its siblings and, indeed, the M3 Max doesn't offer much else than a bigger screen over the m3 note.

The retail box of the Meizu M3 Max includes only the basics - a fast 24W charger plug and a microUSB cable. There are no headphones but this seems to be the trend with the Chinese phones lately.

Meizu m3 max

The phablet is all-metal in the luxury kind of way - there are no big plastic strips at the back, just two tiny antenna lines. A glass covers the front with 2.5D edges - it's probably a Dinorex T2X-1, but Meizu didn't share any specifics.

The 6.0" screen has an IPS matrix of 1080p resolution or in other words 367ppi density. Its viewing angles are close to perfection, very wide and with no color distortion, though its sunlight legibility is about average with a score of 2.447.

Sunlight contrast ratio

Samsung Galaxy S6 edge+4.615

Samsung Galaxy S7 edge4.439

OnePlus 34.424

Samsung Galaxy S74.376

HTC One A94.274

Samsung Galaxy Note74.247

Samsung Galaxy A34.241

OnePlus 3T4.232

Google Pixel XL4.164

ZTE Axon 74.154

Samsung Galaxy S6 edge4.124

Samsung Galaxy Note54.09

Huawei Nexus 6P4.019

Vivo Xplay5 Elite3.983

OnePlus X3.983

Oppo R7s3.964

Apple iPhone 73.964

Huawei P9 Plus3.956

Samsung Galaxy A7 (2016)3.918

Samsung Galaxy C53.911

Samsung Galaxy C73.896

Samsung Galaxy A53.895

Samsung Galaxy J7 outdoor3.879

Samsung Galaxy J2 outdoor3.873

Samsung Galaxy A83.859

Samsung Galaxy A9 (2016)3.817

Motorola Moto X (2014)3.816

Samsung Galaxy J7 (2016) outdoor mode3.802

Xiaomi Redmi Pro3.798

LG V20 Max auto3.798

Sony Xperia XZ3.795

Samsung Galaxy A5 (2016)3.789

Apple iPhone 6s3.783

Meizu Pro 53.781

Microsoft Lumia 6503.772

Samsung Galaxy J7 (2016)3.756

Oppo F1 Plus3.709

Vivo X5Pro3.706

Sony Xperia X Compact3.694

Apple iPhone SE3.681

Samsung Galaxy A73.679

Meizu PRO 63.659

BlackBerry Priv3.645

Apple iPhone 7 Plus3.588

Apple iPhone 6s Plus3.53

Samsung Galaxy J3 (2016) outdoor mode3.523

Samsung Galaxy J3 (2016)3.523

Acer Jade Primo3.521

Microsoft Lumia 9503.512

Oppo R7 Plus3.499

nubia Z113.466

Samsung Galaxy J73.422

Meizu MX53.416

LG V203.402

Oppo R9s3.352

Oppo R73.32

Xiaomi Mi 5s3.276

Samsung Galaxy J23.235

Sony Xperia X Performance3.234

Xiaomi Mi Note 23.228

Motorola Moto X Play3.222

Huawei P93.195

Lenovo Vibe Shot3.113

Motorola Moto X Force3.105

LG Nexus 5X3.092

Huawei Mate S3.073

Microsoft Lumia 640 XL3.065

Sony Xperia X2.989

Huawei Mate 82.949

Xiaomi Redmi 3S2.913

Sony Xperia XA Ultra2.906

LG G52.905

HTC One S2.901

Xiaomi Mi 5s Plus2.884

Sony Xperia Z52.876

Microsoft Lumia 5502.851

Xiaomi Redmi 3 Pro2.803

Sony Xperia Z5 compact2.784

Meizu MX62.751

LG V102.744

Xiaomi Redmi 32.735

Sony Xperia M52.69

Huawei P9 Lite2.679

Vivo V3Max2.659

Xiaomi Mi Mix2.658

Xiaomi Mi 4i2.641

Sony Xperia XA2.609

Motorola Moto G4 Plus2.582

Motorola Moto G4 Plus (max auto)2.582

Xiaomi Mi 4c2.574

LeEco Le Max 22.567

Asus Zenfone 3 ZE552KL2.563

Microsoft Lumia 6402.563

Lenovo Moto G42.544

Oppo F12.528

Sony Xperia Z5 Premium2.525

Huawei Honor 7 Lite / Honor 5c2.506

Sony Xperia M4 Aqua2.503

Oppo F1s2.481

Motorola Moto G2.477

Lenovo Vibe K5 Plus2.473

Huawei G82.471

Huawei nova2.467

Sony Xperia Z2.462

Lenovo Vibe K52.459

Meizu M3 Max2.447

Huawei Honor 72.406

Sony Xperia E52.386

ZUK Z1 by Lenovo2.382

Samsung Galaxy J5 (2016)2.378

HTC 102.378

Meizu m1 note2.362

Huawei nova plus2.329

HTC One E9+2.305

Alcatel One Touch Hero2.272

Apple iPhone 4S2.269

Lenovo Vibe K4 Note2.254

Sony Xperia C5 Ultra2.253

Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 (MediaTek)2.249

Sony Xperia C4 Dual2.235

Xiaomi Mi Note2.234

Motorola Moto G (2014)2.233

LG Nexus 52.228

Huawei P82.196

Huawei Honor 62.169

Xiaomi Redmi Note 22.166

OnePlus Two2.165

HTC One X2.158

Xiaomi Redmi Note 42.145

LG Aka2.145

Archos 50 Diamond2.134

Xiaomi Redmi Note2.119

Acer Liquid X22.084

Huawei P8lite2.078

Moto G 3rd gen max manual2.026

Xiaomi Mi 32.001

Xiaomi Mi Max1.996

Sony Xperia E4g1.972

OnePlus One1.961

Meizu m3 note1.923

Meizu m2 note1.892

BlackBerry Leap1.892

ZTE Nubia Z9 mini1.759

Sony Xperia U1.758

Asus Zenfone Selfie1.68

Motorola Moto E (2nd Gen)1.675

ZTE Nubia Z91.659

Jolla Jolla1.605

Motorola Moto E1.545

Sony Xperia M1.473

HTC Desire C1.3

Sony Xperia C1.283

Meizu MX1.221

Sony Xperia E1.215

The 6" display has a maximum brightness of 450 nits and an excellent contrast at 1:976. The last good surprise came with the color rendering - the phone offers very accurate color representation out of the box with average DeltaE of 4.4.

Display test

100% brightness

Black, cd/m2

White, cd/m2

Contrast ratio

Meizu M3 Max

0.46

449

976

Meizu m3 note

0.52

425

816

Meizu m1 note

0.65

562

867

Meizu m1 metal

0.50

390

780

Sony Xperia XA Ultra

0.50

531

1071

Below the screen is the iconic for the Meizu phones all-in-one mTouch key. It offers touch functionality as well as a press action like a regular button. Finally, it has an embedded fingerprint scanner though it's not of the always-on variety.

The mTouch key • handling the М3 Мax

The M3 Max has the same 4,100 mAh battery as the m3 note, and it scored an excellent 100-hour endurance rating in our battery test. The battery supports MediaTek's Pump Express 3.0 rapid charging, and the supplied charger has a maximum power output of 24W.

Meizu M3 Max is a dual-SIM phone, but it uses a hybrid slot so you would have to make the choice of either a second SIM or a microSD card. The phone comes with 64GB storage, though, so you probably won't need the memory card option.

The busy bottom • the microUSB port and the loudspeaker • the SIM and microSD hybrid slot

Finally, the M3 Max has a single speaker at its bottom, and its loudness turned out good. It isn't the loudest around, but on a positive note, its output quality is clean, crisp, and with deep enough bass.